A Tangled Green
by fricaiwyrda
Summary: SG-1's arrival on a planet heralds the discovery of a new race of people, potentially new allies, but first they have to stay alive long enough to meet them.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This story kind of revolves around an interesting idea I had, so I tried to flesh out a story for it. Please tell me what you think; I'm open to suggestions and criticism.

**A Tangled Green**

Stepping out of the Stargate onto the usual raised platform, SG-1 expected the normalcy to continue out to an empty clearing or field of some sort with the requisite DHD nearby. The MALP hadn't shown any life signs in its preliminary scans, so it came as a bit of a shock to instead walk out of the gate and look down the hill a bit to see a somewhat large crowd gathered around a dais on which sat a gilded throne.

On the throne sat an unsurprisingly overdressed man, surrounded by armor-clad guards carrying telltale staff weapons. Standing before the dais, in a bit of a clearing the crowd had made around them, were three people. Their dress contrasted with both the obviously ragged and tattered crowd and the extravagantly dressed man sitting upon the throne. It was simple in design, borrowing from a somewhat dull color palate of greens and browns. The clothing seemed to be held together and wrapped around the peoples' bodies with some type of vine, adding to the green already present on the cloth. The two men wore somewhat long tunics belted over pants. The woman standing in front wore a belted dress that fell to her knees and her legs were wrapped with matching cloth down to the ankles. The entire party was barefoot and sported almost bleached white hair.

The woman in front was gesturing and seemed to be speaking to the man languishing on the throne. He gazed back in an obviously uninterested manner. Everyone else present was intently focused on the conversation, taking no notice of the Stargate's activation nor the team that had come through it.

After observing the completely unexpected spectacle below for a few moments, Teal'c spoke up. "I believe that this is the domain of a Goa'uld."

"Couldn't possibly be because of the staff weapons, huh?" Colonel O'Neill asked sarcastically.

"As a matter of fact, O'Neill, that was what brought me to that conclusion." Teal'c stoically replied. O'Neill threw up his hands in exasperation; sarcasm was totally lost on this one.

Dr. Jackson leaned forward a bit, squinting down at the gathering. "It's a bit hard to see, but I don't think I recognize the markings on the Jaffa." It was too bad Sam wasn't with them; she was notorious for her eagle-eye vision. Unfortunately, she and the entire science department were working on a device found offworld that supposedly would be the answer to all their clean energy needs.

"Oh well, you know…" O'Neill made suggestive circles around his eyes, but before he could say more, there seemed to be a commotion down the hill.

It looked like the goa'uld hadn't liked something the visitors had said because he was now standing up before his throne, gesturing to his Jaffa. They leveled their weapons on the woman in front. The two men behind her stepped forward protectively and were each shot in the chest by the staff weapons. The woman cried out, reaching out her hands to the goa'uld as if pleading with him. She stepped closer and one of the Jaffa shot a warning blast into her left leg. She stumbled and fell to her knees.

The goa'uld abruptly turned away with a swish of his robes and began to walk toward the temple that lay not far to the east of the dais. Two Jaffa took guard behind him and followed. With a dismissive gesture over his shoulder, the remainder of the Jaffa set to breaking up the crowd and dealing with the visitors. The two men who had crumpled to the ground were dragged off, and the woman who still knelt before the empty throne was roughly brought up to her feet and led off after them. Every time she would stumble and fall the Jaffa would kick her before dragging her back up again to continue.

SG-1 still stood, dumbstruck, in front of the Stargate. As the villagers of the crowd began to slowly disperse and return to their homes and duties, a few happened to glance up at the Stargate. Upon seeing the strangers standing there, they began to point and shout. Alerted to SG-1's presence, the Jaffa began to run up the hill to intercept them.

"Nope, this can't be good." O'Neill muttered, readying his weapon.

"I concur, O'Neill." Teal'c replied, also preparing for battle.

"Uhh, you guys? Shouldn't we be running or something?" Jackson asked nervously, fingering his handgun.

Counting the Jaffa and noticing that they were outnumbered three to one, the Colonel nodded. "You know, Daniel? You're right. Let's move!" He broke left and ran for the tree line, the others following close behind.

* * *

The young woman was tossed unceremoniously onto a hard floor. Through the pain, she heard a metallic clank behind her, then the receding sound of boots. Slowly pushing herself up to a sitting position, she leaned back against the cold hard wall. Looking around, she realized she was in a cell of some sort, and the clanking she had heard had been the metal cage-like door closing and locking her in.

With her left leg stretched out before her, she slowly lifted up the hem of her dress to assess her injury. A charred and bleeding hole marred her left thigh. Underneath the remains of the legging came a rustling and she briefly saw a flash of green before looking up with a start. She barely had time to pull her dress back down to cover the wound when the sounds of boots she had heard arrived at the door to her cell along with the imposing Jaffa that had created them. He sneered at her wickedly as he unlocked the door and stepped in.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: The first few chapters should come pretty quick after each other, but I don't think its going to stay that way the whole time. Thanks for those of you who've decided this is a story worth reading, I hope it lives up to your expectations.

**Chapter 2**

The sneering Jaffa walked toward the young woman as she tried to scrunch herself up against the wall as much as possible. He carried no staff weapon, but instead a short metal rod with prongs at the end, which he carelessly swung around as he approached her.

"You should count yourself lucky that your god deems you worthy enough not to kill you," The Jaffa said, coming closer. "Yet." The sneer returned as he swung the rod out and struck the woman in the arm. As the rod contacted her body, it sent a jolt of pain through her, shining yellow through her eyes and mouth as she cried out in pain.

The Jaffa stepped away, breaking the rod's contact, and the woman slumped to the floor. He began to walk back to the door of the cell, his fun finished it seemed. Crying out weakly, the young woman lifted her head off the floor and reached out her hand.

"Please, what has happened to the others? We must be together!" she said in a weak but pleading voice. The Jaffa turned back at the door but said nothing. "Are they still alive? Please, we must see to them!" The Jaffa merely stepped through the door to the cell and locked it behind him, his footsteps receding off into the complex.

"No…" the young woman moaned, fearing the worst, as she rested her head back on the cold, hard floor. She soon slipped back into blessed unconsciousness.

* * *

Random staff weapon blasts struck trees and brush around the group as SG-1 raced through the woods, trying to lose their Jaffa attackers.

"Y'know, it really is a good thing these guys have no aim whatsoever or we'd be toast." O'Neill said conversationally as they jumped over fallen logs and pushed through undergrowth, throwing back a bit of cover fire every once in a while. "No offense, Teal'c." he added, glancing over at the Jaffa.

"None taken, O'Neill." Teal'c responded, making a few well aimed shots behind them and downing some of their followers.

Panting, Daniel asked, "How long do you think we're going to have to keep ru—ahh!" he was cut off as he suddenly disappeared.

"Daniel?!" O'Neill called out worriedly, before he too fell down the sudden slope, followed much more gracefully by Teal'c.

They found themselves in a ditch, well hidden by the brush that grew over the edges. Looking around, O'Neill found Daniel a little bit away rubbing his leg. He went over to take a look at his wayward archaeologist. "So, Daniel. Had a nice trip?"

"Ha...ha…" Daniel looked up from his leg, straightening his glasses and glaring at O'Neill. "I noticed you decided to join me, though."

"Well, couldn't let you travel alone, now could we?" O'Neill asked with a grin. Daniel just huffed. They both listened as the sounds of the Jaffa came closer and then went past them, receding into the woods. They shared a collective sigh.

"O'Neill. I believe I have found something over here." Teal'c called over to them from further down the ditch. O'Neill helped Daniel to his feet and they both went over to see what Teal'c had found.

"Whatcha got, Teal'c?" O'Neill asked, brushing dried leaves off himself as he came up beside the Jaffa. Following the other man's gaze downward, he noticed something odd. "Ookay, that doesn't look natural."

Daniel shuffled up behind him, looking back and forth at his surroundings. "So what's…ohh." He looked down at the sight that had caught the others' eyes. Two strange growths of bright green vines were situated right next to each other, the only green growth in the ditch amid all the dead leaves. "Is it just me, or do those look like…"

"Indeed they do, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c responded as Daniel trailed off without finishing his sentence. O'Neill gave him a look.

"Oh, well I was about to say they looked like grave mounds." Daniel finished off, pulling his glasses off, cleaning them, and slipping them back on his face.

"I came to the same conclusion, Daniel Jackson. That is why I called your attention to them." Teal'c said as he and O'Neill watched Daniel approach the two mounds. Crouching down, Daniel reached out to touch one.

"Wait! Don't touch that!" O'Neill blurt out. "What if it's the intergalactic version of poison ivy?" Teal'c looked over at him, a curious look on his face.

"C'mon, Jack." Daniel said, reaching out to touch the vine's leaves. "It's not like we haven't just ran through who knows how many different species of plant growth on our way here, any one of which could have the same effect." Jack reluctantly nodded in agreement.

Reaching out, Daniel brushed aside some of the vine's leaves, hoping to find the dirt mound that would confirm that this was some type of grave. But instead, his hand contacted with something cold and soft, that felt nothing like dirt. He jerked back in surprise.

"What is it, Daniel?" Jack asked, stepping forward protectively.

"I dunno," Daniel said in a bit of a daze. "I think I just touched a…" He reached back in and brushed the leaves aside to make sure. "Yes, I was right. I just touched a hand."

"Oh, well then, in that case…Wait! A hand? What the hell is a hand doing sitting there?" Jack burst out, finally processing what Daniel had said. He noticed Daniel had begun frantically searching through the viny growth all along the grave-like mound. "Daniel?"

"Oh my god…" Daniel twisted around to look back at the other two. "Jack, there's a person in here, a whole person. I wouldn't be surprised if the other mound is the same." He turned back, looking closer at the body. "Its not decomposed or anything, so it must have been put here recently. But then how could all this vegetation have grown over it so quickly?" Suddenly he froze.

"Daniel?" Jack said, apprehensively.

Daniel turned back to face Jack. "The plant is growing out through his skin, Jack."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks to all of you who've decided this story is worth watching, and to those of you who've reviewed, I appreciate the input. Here's my chapter three, and just a warning, things might slow down a bit after this in relation to postings. And to everyone else, thanks for reading, and please review!

**Chapter 3**

Jack just stood there, staring at the archaeologist who crouched by the viny mounds. "What do you mean the vines are growing through this guy's skin?" He finally managed to say.

Daniel turned back to the body, pushing some vines out of the way and motioning the others to step closer. "Just what I said, Jack. The vines are popping out through the skin as if it were the ground as opposed to a person's body." Teal'c crouched down next to Daniel on one side, and Jack approached by the other. Daniel pushed at the corpse's arm, grunting in the effort to tip the body on its side. "Here, help me with this." Teal'c lent a hand and they succeeded in levering the body off the ground. "Whoa, that's what I thought, but still, it's unbelievable." Daniel said in a shocked voice.

All three of them looked at the back of the corpse, noticing the evident lack of roots sticking out. The only things coming out of the skin were a few stalks of vine that wrapped around to the top of the body. Jack shook his head. Teal'c turned to Daniel, "If the plants did not grow from the ground through this body, where did they come from?"

"It looks like they came from inside the body. It's what I guessed when I saw them coming through the skin, but don't ask me how they do it." Daniel slowly rested the body back on the ground.

"Y'know, I really gotta stop letting you scientists go off and do your own thing instead of being with the team. We could really use Carter right about now." Jack grumbled, slowly straightening up and brushing off his pants.

"She's an astrophysicist, Jack. Botany isn't really one of her strong suits; I don't even think it's a hobby." Daniel said reproachfully. "Either way, we're on our own on this one."

"Okay, well. There's not really anything we can do with Mr.Greensleeves here, so let's move out. Those Jaffa could come back around any minute." Climbing out on the other side of the ditch, Jack turned around to help Daniel and Teal'c up after him. When they were all back on level ground, he looked around. Picking a direction, he started walking, followed by the others.

"So, Jack. Do you even know where we're going?" Daniel asked, walking up next to Jack as they trudged through more underbrush. "I mean, I know you pride yourself in your excellent sense of direction, but we were running pretty pell-mell back there. I don't think even you could still know which direction is which."

Jack looked over at his friend and smirked. "And there you would be wrong, my directionally-challenged young friend. If I'm right; which, granted, I'm not always; we did a loop around the village and are now on the eastern side, closer to the temple. Isn't that right, Teal'c?" he called back to the Jaffa walking behind them.

"I believe your calculations to be correct, O'Neill." Teal'c nodded once as he continued to scan the woods around them.

"Right. So what's the plan? Where to next?" Daniel asked, changing the subject to cover his apparent lack of navigation skills.

"Back to the Stargate. Hopefully we can slip around the village and up the hill without being seen, and then its goodbye P3X-whatever, and hello Earth." He waved with his hands to emphasize the point.

"But, Jack! We can't just leave! What about the woman? She may need our help." Daniel frowned at Jack. "We can't just leave her here."

Jack swung around to face Daniel. "Oh I'm sure she needs our help, **IF** she's still alive. What makes you think she is, Daniel?"

"Think about it, Jack. If she was dead, wouldn't we have found her dumped there with the other bodies? They must still have her somewhere in that temple. We have to get her out." Daniel stopped moving, crossing his arms over his chest.

Jack sighed. "Daniel, so help me, if we get killed trying to get this girl out you are so gonna get it!" He turned and started walking in a different direction. "We should try to borrow some less conspicuous clothes from the oh-so-friendly villagers first."

Daniel grinned and clapped his arm around Jack's back. "Thanks, Jack."

"Don't thank me yet." Jack grumbled.

* * *

The young woman was suddenly jolted awake from the sound of the cell door clanging open. Lifting her head off the floor, she saw the Jaffa from before stride quickly into the room. Thankfully, he didn't seem to have the metal rod with him. Reaching down, he grabbed her roughly by the arm.

"Get up!" He tugged her, lifting her partway up. She tried to get her feet under her body but failed, and collapsed back onto the floor. "Get up! Your god commands your presence!" The Jaffa kicked her before jerking her arm again.

The woman cried out, desperately trying to get her feet under her. She finally succeeded and stood wavering on her feet. "We have no god. We are free to follow our own path." She said triumphantly.

The Jaffa backhanded her heavily, making her fly back and hit the wall. She crumpled back to the ground. "You shall not speak such blasphemy of your god." Storming over he grabbed her by the arm and started dragging her out of the cell. She kicked and squirmed feebly for a few moments, then went limp in defeat as the Jaffa dragged her down the corridors toward the throne room.

Arriving outside of huge, golden double doors, the Jaffa pushed them open one-handed and continued to drag his cargo into the room. Coming to a halt before the gilded throne, he bowed to the figure that reclined upon it. "My lord, the prisoner, as you requested."

The goa'uld straightened in his seat, looking down at the condition of the young woman sprawled upon the floor. His eyes flashed white as he switched his gaze to the Jaffa. "Did I not order you to bring her here for questioning?" His two-tone voice resonated. The Jaffa merely lowered his head. "How can I question her if she is **unconscious**!" He propelled himself up off the throne and strode toward the Jaffa. Before he could say more, he heard a moan coming from the prisoner.

"We are kin…why do you treat us this way?" The young woman spoke, her voice barely a whisper. She slowly lifted her head to look up at the extravagantly dressed goa'uld before her. The goa'uld stepped forward and leaned down until his face was inches from her own.

"We are not **kin**. I am your **GOD**, Belenus. You **will** obey me." He then straightened up, reaching out his hand on which a strange contraption was fitted, and pointed it at her face. An orange beam came forth from the object and struck her forehead. Her body was frozen in a silent scream as the pain overwhelmed her.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry for the later posting, I warned you. Anyway, thanks again to all of you who are tuning in to this story, and to those of you who have reviewed. By the way, you can look it up if you like, but rest assured, our dear Daniel will explain who Belenus is in due time. Enjoy this chapter!

**Chapter 4**

The pain suddenly stopped and the young woman collapsed back onto the floor of the throne room. Taking short, quick breaths, she tried to figure out what had just happened. All she could remember was blinding pain and…images. Thoughts and memories all jumbled together. The goa'uld had been searching her mind! Fearing the worst, the young woman tilted her gaze up to see the face of her tormentor.

The goa'uld Belenus leered down at her, an intrigued and knowing smile on his face. He had seen many interesting things from this woman's mind. Now he must decipher what these strange images meant. "Who are you, where do you come from?" He motioned to the Jaffa and the man drug her up to her knees to face him.

"We told you this before. We are Union. We come from far away." The woman responded, hissing at the pain that the Jaffa's rough handling had caused.

"So you have said. But what planet are you from? Tell me the address to your planet!" Belenus lunged forward and caught the woman's chin in his hand. "What is your purpose here?"

The young woman stared at him, trying not to show how afraid she was. Opening her mouth, she attempted to talk around the hand that gripped her jaw. "Our planet is of no consequence. It is no longer safe to tell you from whence we come." She paused, waiting for the goa'uld to lash out at her. When he did not, she continued. "Our purpose was to search for our kin. When we found you, we were overjoyed. But you are different. Why do you waste the gift you have been given?" A look of genuine concern came to her face.

Belenus did not appreciate the pity on her face. He let go of her face abruptly and stood up to begin pacing the room. "I tire of your foolish games. You **will** tell me what I want to know!" Pivoting to face the prisoner again, Belenus came closer and flung out his hand on which the ribbon device was set. In fear, the young woman flung up her arms to cover her face.

Then a most interesting thing occurred. From her arms erupted bright green vines that rapidly wove through each other and spread outwards to create a type of shield, blocking her face completely from the view of Belenus. Both the goa'uld and the Jaffa took a step back in surprise. As quickly as the shield had appeared it disappeared, the vines receding back into the woman's body as if they had never been. For a moment, her skin seemed to ripple, and then it was smooth again.

Overcoming his surprise, the goa'uld Belenus stepped closer to the young woman, who had fallen back, flinging her arms out behind her to catch herself. Some of the images he had seen when searching her mind seemed to make sense now. "We will see what other secrets you hide from your god another time, Ninsar." He motioned to the Jaffa, who quickly pulled the woman off her feet and marched her out of the throne room. Left alone to his thoughts, Belenus pondered the threat this stranger had now become.

* * *

Stepping out of a hut in the village, O'Neill plucked at the raggedy robes the team had found conveniently sitting around. "Well, even if we won't stand out, the Jaffa'll be able to smell us coming from miles away." He wrinkled his nose in dissatisfaction.

"Hardly, Jack. Don't forget, they all smell like this." Daniel added, taking a whiff of his own robes. "It's not that bad." He coughed.

"Now that we have disguised ourselves, what will be our next plan of action?" Teal'c asked as he, too stepped out of the small hut, straightening his robes to hide the weapons concealed beneath.

"Uhh, well I'd like to take a look around, maybe talk to the townspeople a bit." Daniel said, starting to drift toward the town square. O'Neill reached out and snagged him by the sleeve, stopping him.

"We're not here for the sightseeing, Daniel. In case you forgot, we're here to save that girl that you just **had** to come back and get." O'Neill frowned at Daniel, who was feebly pulling away in an absent-minded attempt to get on with things. "Daniel!" Jack practically shouted at him, which made Daniel snap back to look at him, a confused look on his face. "Fine, I'll let you go, but Teal'c's going with you. I'm going to scout out the temple." He let go of Daniel's sleeve.

Daniel pulled his arm back to himself, patting his sleeve down protectively. "You do know I'm not just doing this for the fun of it. We should find out who this goa'uld is and who his visitors were." He glanced over as Teal'c took position behind him.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Just get on with it, okay? I'm hoping to get this whole thing done before we're due to go back to the SGC." He started to head off in the direction of the temple. "Meet back here in three hours, okay?"

Teal'c nodded, Daniel having already started back toward the town center. "We will be here, O'Neill." Turning, he went to catch up with the impatient archaeologist. "What exactly are we endeavoring to discover, Daniel Jackson?"

"Oh, Teal'c. I didn't see you there." Daniel had jumped slightly when Teal'c spoke, having already engrossed himself with listening in to the townspeople's conversations as he pretended to examine a market stall. Teal'c merely inclined his head in apology. "Well, like I said, we need to find out what goa'uld rules here, but more importantly, what these people know of the visitors who came."

"Perhaps a more direct approach would be quicker, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c said as Daniel made furtive glances around at the people in the market. The only conversation the Jaffa could hear was about the price of grain and whose son was getting married.

"Huh? Oh, maybe you're right. If we only have three hours to get this information, listening in to the village gossip isn't going to get us very far." Daniel left the protection of the market stall, and began to approach a small group of people. "Here goes!" He said under his breath, trying to sound optimistic.

* * *

A/N: I didn't want to confuse you in the note before, but the name Ninsar is also significant. You can look it up if you like, but again, Daniel will explain it soon. Sorry about the slightly boring chapter, things will be picking up soon. Hopefully.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry about the later post, had a rather busy day yesterday. For those of you waiting with bated breath for the explanation to those two strange names from the previous chapters, your wait is over! Thanks for reading and don't forget to review!

**Chapter 5**

"Daniel?" Jack O'Neill asked, watching the poor archaeologist being pushed forward along with a very reluctant Teal'c by a group of Jaffa. "What did you do?" he said in a voice reminiscent of a parent picking up their teenager from the principal's office.

Daniel gave an innocently shocked look, right on cue. "I didn't do anything, Jack!" He bristled at the rough treatment of the Jaffa as they stopped in front of Jack and took the other man into custody, not without a bit of a scuffle. "We were just talking to the villagers, trying to get some information. I didn't know…"

"I thought I told you not to insult people, Daniel." He shook his head as the Jaffa took his weapons away from him. "Can't take you anywhere." He mumbled.

Teal'c spoke up. "Daniel Jackson did not take into account the response the villagers would have to his questions." He paused and gave Daniel a look. "They were very zealous in their support of their god."

"Ahhh, **zealous**." Jack nodded knowingly. "Hey, watch it!" he shouted at the Jaffa as they began to push and prod the group to get them moving toward the temple.

Trying to sound optimistic, Daniel said, "Well, on the bright side, at least we have a way into the temple now. Everything's going as planned."

"Yeah, this is **just **the way we planned it." Jack grumbled as they were led out of the town and to the temple.

* * *

Lying where she had been tossed in the cell, the young woman drifted in and out of consciousness. Whenever she **was** conscious, she thought back to her interrogation in the throne room. The one named Belenus concerned her. He was her kin, she was sure of it, but there was something different, something **wrong**.

She regretted her outburst, though. She had been afraid, **they** had been afraid, and the shield had come as mere instinct. She had seen the change in Belenus' expression, the look of true knowing. He only made the matter worse when he called her by that name, he knew her secret. As her kin, it shouldn't have made a difference, but she was beginning to think that this being was not one of them. Not one on the path to the Great Union.

This could be a problem.

* * *

Reaching the throne room, the Jaffa threw open the doors and pushed SG-1 through. They were led up in front of the throne, and Jack threw up his arms trying to brush the strong arms off. "Y'know, I've got a bit of a joint problem. So you don't really have to—" He was cut off as the Jaffa roughly pushed the group to their knees. "Yeah, you're right, I wouldn't want to stand the whole time, thanks." Jack muttered sarcastically.

Both Daniel and Teal'c looked over at him, twins with their raised eyebrow. Turning back, all three took a good look at the man on the throne. Smug expression, clothes that would put a runway model to shame, covered in more gold than Ft. Knox. Yep, this was definitely a goa'uld. But which one?

"These are the ones from the Stargate?" the goa'uld spoke to his Jaffa.

The Jaffa bowed, "Yes, my lord Belenus. The villagers recognized them in the market." Ahhh, so that's who the goa'uld was.

"Very well, leave us." The Jaffa bowed again and turned to leave, motioning the other guards to follow him. "And Joren," the lead Jaffa turned back. "Check on Ninsar, see if you can get any more information from her."

"Yes, my lord." The Jaffa named Joren bowed for a third time and left, closing the doors behind him. Belenus returned his attention to SG-1, sneering down at them.

"Belenus…Belenus," Daniel's brow was furrowed as he muttered in concentration. Suddenly his head perked up. "Belenus, Celtic warrior god of the sun!" Before the others could respond to his outburst, he tucked his head back down and continued to mutter. "But I'm missing something, something more…"

The goa'uld ignored Daniel, and proceeded to gloat, as usual. "If one of my fellow gods has sent you to strike me down, they will be sorely disappointed. You have failed your god, and I will enjoy punishing you for your insolence." Belenus smiled wickedly down at them.

Jack frowned. It looked like they had actually found someone who didn't know who they were. That was a bit of a surprise. But maybe they could use that to their advantage. Glancing over to the others, he saw Daniel continue to mutter and frown, and he exchanged a knowing look with Teal'c.

"Whom do you serve?" Belenus leaned forward, seeing under the hood of Teal'c's robe, he noticed the Jaffa mark. "Apophis? Apophis has sent you here? His First Prime and a few human slaves? Did he really think he could defeat me that easily?"

Okay, so this guy was way out of the loop, Jack thought. "Sorry to break it to you, but old Apophis is dead." He gave a mock apologetic smile. Surprised, the goa'uld turned to Teal'c.

"He speaks the truth, Apophis is dead." Teal'c said almost triumphantly.

Belenus thrust himself up off the throne. "You speak of the death of your god with such disdain. You should be ashamed that you have failed to protect him."

"I am ashamed of nothing. Apophis is not my god, he is a false god and he is dead." Teal'c straightened his back even more. "These people helped me free myself and my people from the grips of that false god."

In a rage, Belenus lunged forward from the throne. O'Neill and Teal'c managed to get to their feet and back away, but Daniel was still in his own little world. The goa'uld looked even more angered that the others had backed away, so he struck Daniel with the back of his hand, throwing him onto his back and jolting him out of his reverie. "You will pay for your actions! I will not allow such a deed to go unpunished!" He threw out his hand and caught Daniel in the beam of his ribbon device.

Jack and Teal'c took a step forward, wanting to do something to help their friend. But at the sound of their lord's anger, the Jaffa had come in from outside the chamber and had staff weapons aimed at the two of them, preventing them from making any move. The pain Daniel was enduring was painted on his face for everyone to see as he was pinned in place, mouth slightly open.

After what seemed an eternity, the goa'uld Belenus seemed to calm, and he turned away from the prone Daniel, breaking the beam of the ribbon device. Daniel slumped to the floor, gasping. "I tire of these traitors, these _shol'va_." Belenus flicked his hands behind him. "Take them away." The Jaffa guards came forward, grabbing O'Neill and Teal'c. Two more came forward and pulled Daniel up off the floor. He flinched when their hands touched him, making Jack grimace. When he couldn't seem to stay standing, the Jaffa just drug him out of the room, followed by the guards leading Jack and Teal'c.

Through corridor after corridor the odd procession went, Jack noting the turns they took, preparing for their inevitable escape. Daniel had long since stopped trying to struggle against the Jaffa dragging him, and just hung limp from their arms, his hands cradling his head. Finally, they turned down a corridor and saw the First Prime from before, Joren, coming towards them, carrying one of the pain sticks. As he came in to Daniel's vision, Daniel jerked away, but Joren merely continued on, nodding at the Jaffa as he passed them and disappearing into the labyrinth of the temple complex. The group continued on to the end of the corridor, and arrived at a large cell. Inside Jack could see a curled up form in the corner of the room.

The guards opened the cell door and threw Daniel unceremoniously in, making him skid a bit as he hit the floor. "Hey!" Jack said indignantly. "Watch it!" The Jaffa merely pushed Jack and Teal'c through the door and closed it behind him with a clank. "This sure must be a quiet place, if you only have one prison cell." O'Neill commented to Teal'c. "Hey, we don't even get our own room?!" He shouted to the receding Jaffa.

"Jack."

"I'm definitely reporting this to the Better Business Bureau!" Jack shot at the quickly fading sound of boots.

"Jack." The quiet voice came again, and O'Neill finally registered that it was talking to him. Turning, he saw that Daniel had pulled himself over to the corner where the figure was still curled up, shivering slightly. "It's the woman. The visitor." He reached out to touch her, and she jerked away before he had even made contact. "She doesn't look too good."

"Look who's talking, Daniel." Jack said, as Daniel pinched his fingers on the bridge of his nose. "You know, that could have been avoided if you were actually paying attention. What was going on in that overactive little head of yours?" He crouched down next to Daniel and the woman, Teal'c came over to join them.

"It was the goa'uld, Belenus. There was something I was forgetting, something important about him." He shook his head slowly. "I still can't remember. Its right there, but I can't wrap my mind around it." He gave a frustrated sigh.

"Maybe if you stop thinking about it, it'll come to you." Jack offered, receiving a glare from Daniel in response. He just shrugged, it was worth a try. "But anyway, least we know who the girl is."

"How do you mean, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked with a raised eyebrow, Daniel mirrored his look of confusion.

"Well, we heard that goa'uld say her name was Nensard or whatever."

Daniel automatically corrected him. "Ninsar." Then he stopped, and cocked his head, frowning. "Ninsar…" he said again.

"Daniel?" Jack asked, Daniel only waved his hand to shush him.

"Ninsar, it's Sumerian. The goddess of plants, daughter of Ninhursag and Enki, the Sweet Water Lord." Daniel had a shining looking in his eyes, the look he always got when he had figured out something amazing.

"So, she's a goa'uld?" Jack asked, confused. "That makes no sense."

"No, no…" Daniel shook his head, a bit too quickly, and his hand came up to his head. "Ninsar, in and of itself, is the name of the plant goddess. But if you take its etymological meaning, you get Nin—lady—and sar—greenery. So I think Belenus was just referring to the way she's dressed, and maybe it has something to do with how those vines were growing through the skin of those men." Looking up, Daniel saw the glazed look on Jack's face. He was too tired to try to explain it better. "But what I don't understand is why a goa'uld taking the form of a Celtic god would know Sumerian, or even refer to someone in a Sumerian title."

"Well, at least that's the **only** thing you don't understand." Jack said sarcastically. Daniel glared at him. "Hey, I'm just saying." Jack threw up his hands defensively.

"O'Neill, I believe the young woman is in distress." Teal'c broke in to Jack and Daniel's little quibble. They all shifted their gaze to the curled up form. She was jerking and shifting, making small sounds of distress. Daniel carefully reached out and touched her arm to turn her to face them.

She flung out her other arm, grasping his arm that was touching her. In the blink of an eye, vines came flying out of her skin and wrapped themselves tightly around his arm, pinning it in place. She turned to face him, showing eyes that were wide and scared.

SG-1 just stared at her, too shocked to even register any possible danger she might pose.

* * *

A/N: I hope that cleared up a few of the questions on the names. I made this chapter a bit longer, to make up for the gap in posting. Hope you enjoyed it and please review and let me know exactly what you liked and didn't.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Again, it's been a little bit since my last posting, I blame it all on work. And the fact that I was hopelessly stuck as to how I could spice up the next chapter. Finally, I decided with the help of a friend to just forget the spice, and leave it as is. So if it is disappointing, blame it on my friend. But I hope it isn't. Disappointing, that is. Anyway, on with the show!

**Chapter 6**

Daniel and the young woman stared at each other, eyes locked as firmly as their arms were entwined. "Please, no more. We cannot take any more." The woman begged, voice barely a whisper, but filled with outright fear.

Snapped back to reality, Daniel reassured her. "Don't worry; we're not going to hurt you. We're not one of them. We're here to help." He tried to move his arm, but the vines only tightened more. He hissed in pain as they bit into his skin.

Blinking several times, the young woman seemed to regain her senses. She glanced down at their arms pinned in place by the vines, almost as an afterthought. Realizing his pain, she quickly let go of her grip. The vines whipped back from Daniel's arm and receded back into her arm as if they had never been. "We apologize. It was not our intention to harm you." She said, looking back up at Daniel.

Rubbing his newly freed arm, Daniel gave an encouraging smile. "No problem. You were disoriented and afraid, there's no need to apologize."

"Oh yes there is, Daniel!" Jack stepped forward, then turned his attention to the girl. "What the hell was that?!" Seeing the confused look on the young woman's face, he tried to elucidate. "You know the..." he waved his arms in a vaguely tentacle fashion.

With a look of understanding, the woman lifted her hand. Slowly this time, vines came out of the general area of her wrist and began to wrap her fingers and hand. Soon all sight of her pale skin was covered in green. It was somewhat reminiscent of a glove, and as she flexed her fingers the vines stretched with her. "This?" she said, a bit of amusement in her voice.

"Yeah, that." O'Neill said, a bit overwhelmed.

The young woman smiled. "It is us." She said it simply, as if there was no possible way to be confused.

"U-us?" Daniel stammered, a bit surprised. "Who are you?"

"We are Union. We were sent to search out those of our own kind. Our kin." She stopped with a sigh, looking down at her leg. "We thought we had found them, but we were wrong." Trying to stand up, she hissed as, favoring her left leg, she collapsed back to the floor.

Noticing her obvious effort to protect her leg, Daniel leaned forward, reaching out his hands. "May I?" He asked. The young woman nodded, bracing herself as he slowly lifted the hem of her dress. Daniel gasped, Jack gave a low whistle, and Teal'c's normally stoic expression showed signs of cracking. The cloth wrapping her leg was tattered, small green leaves poking out from underneath it. The leaves were attached to vines that seemed to be holding the cloth together and wrapping themselves over the charred staff wound in an effort to stop the bleeding. The effort wasn't all together successful.

Seeing the others' expressions, the girl spoke. "We have been trying to heal it slowly. The process is very taxing, and we could not afford to be so vulnerable." Thinking of something, she perked up a bit. "But now you are here, and you seem trustworthy. We can leave ourselves in your care?" She asked.

Glancing back at O'Neill, Daniel nodded. "Of course. You can rest easy, we'll watch over you." He turned one more time to face O'Neill. "Right, Jack?"

"Yeah, sure. We'll watch your back." Jack said, needlessly.

With a satisfied sigh, the young woman set to work. The vines wrapped around her hand receded, to be replaced with one large teardrop shaped leaf that curled up to fit in the palm of her hand. Holding her hand out over her wound, she closed her eyes and concentrated. A faint green glow came from her hand, and her wound slowly stopped bleeding. Then new skin started to grow over the old, and within a few minutes, all that remained was a bit of bloodstained cloth. The vines that had been wrapping her leg retracted into her skin, as well as the leaf on her hand. Looking up, her eyes caught Daniel's astonished ones, and she smiled weakly before sliding along the wall and collapsing into his lap.

Daniel sat there, staring at the now unconscious girl in his lap, then looked up at Jack and Teal'c. Sliding over, and gently resting the girl on the ground, Daniel got up and joined the others. "That was…"

"Freaky." Jack cut in.

"Not the word I was thinking of, but I guess." Daniel finished off, slightly annoyed.

"Her powers are quite formidable. I do not understand why she could not hold her own against the goa'uld." Teal'c commented.

"I get the impression that her people aren't that big on violence. She strikes me as a Nox kind of girl." O'Neill said, looking around at their surroundings. "And what was up with the 'we' and 'us' stuff? Feeling a bit uppity or something?"

"No Jack, I think there's a reason for that. She did say her people were called Union. Now, maybe they have some communal consciousness, or something." Daniel began to ponder.

"Or something." Jack put in, clearly not believing Daniel's explanation.

"Well do you have anything better?" Daniel snapped, getting angry at Jack's increasingly indifferent mood.

"Hey, I'm not the one who got myself brainfried cause I was daydreaming about Babylonian this, Celtic that!" Jack quipped back, finally starting to show some strain.

Daniel sighed, shaking his head patronizingly. "It's Sumerian, Jack, not Babylonian…" His voice trailed off, a faraway look coming to his face.

"Daniel?" Jack said, coming closer.

* * *

"_Omoroca…was…afraid."_

"_On earth?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Of what? Of who? I mean, give me something to work with here. A-a-a time frame…"_

"_Babylon."_

"_A-a name…a name of someone she spoke of."_

"_Belus."_

* * *

"Belus."

"What?" Jack asked.

Daniel snapped out of his memories and look at Jack. "That's what I couldn't remember. There was something about the connection between Belenus and Sumerian. It's Belus."

Jack shook his head. "You're still making no sense, Daniel. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Was not Belus the goa'uld that killed the Oannes woman Omoroca?" Teal'c spoke up. Jack looked over at him curiously, how could he remember things like this? He hadn't even been there.

"Yes, yes!" Daniel began waving his hands around excitedly. "Belus was a goa'uld impersonating a god in ancient Babylon."

"Again I say…what does this have to do with Belenus!" Jack broke in, getting frustrated at his circuitous friend.

"I was getting to that, Jack." Daniel whined. "The Celtic god Belenus was also known as Belinus, Belenos, Belinu, Belanu…"

"Daniel!" Jack was on his last straw.

"Okay! Alright! Belus! The Celtic god Belenus was also known as Belus. It's possible that after the fall of Babylon, he traveled across the continent toward Gaul and the Celtic areas, reinstating himself as a god when he got there. Then, when the time came, he could have taken with him his Celtic human worshippers and left Earth through the Antarctic gate or even by ship."

Jack motioned with his hands, meaning get to the point. Daniel gave a quick nod.

"My point is, this goa'uld Belenus could very well be the same goa'uld that killed Omoroca four thousand years ago. It would explain his understanding of the Sumerian language." Daniel let out his breath in a sigh, finally winding down in his excitement.

"Now, see, that would have been a lot easier, **and** faster I might add, if you would have just skipped to that part." Jack grumbled, he never could figure out why Daniel couldn't just say what he meant instead of beating all around the bush and then some before getting to the point.

"Well I wasn't really sure, Jack. I had to work it out before I could be certain." Daniel seemed a bit put off that the others hadn't praised him for his good memory and deductive reasoning.

"Okay, so what good does that do us?" Jack got to his point, a lot faster than Daniel would have.


	7. Author's Note

Hiyas all

Hiyas all!

This is MissNikori, on behalf of my dear friend FricaiWyrda. Before you all flip out and report me to the admins for hacking, I am saying that I have her permission to do this!!

Anyway, Fri-chan (oh, new nickname, made up right on the spot!) asked my to tell you all that she had to get her router replaced for her internet. I can tell you for a fact that it was stupid, and didn't always work. So, anyway, it was replaced.

I'm not very technical, so I can't tell you all exactly what happened. But, basically, something went wrong when they were replacing it and now they need to totally rehash her whole router/server thing, and it's going to take a week, at least.

So yeah.

Stick with the story, though! Fri-chan gave me a couple of previews, and the story gets _good_. I won't tell you anything except…

Censored for Content does censored and then censored. Then, censored and censored!

I know, it sounds amazing! I can't wait to read it!

So, that's it!

Ja Ne

MissNikori


	8. Chapter 7

A/N: Okay, this is a little later coming than I had expected, but I ended up giving my storyline a complete overhaul, so that took a bit. Thanks to all of you that have been taking the time to read and review this! Oh, and SGS1-POTC, you should be happy, because I did figure out a way to bring Sam Carter back into the story. And for any of you who are really picky, I'm taking a bit of liberty with the Belenus/Belus route. Although the show never actually gave the connection, Belus is normally thought of as another name for Marduk. But for obvious reasons, that isn't the case this time. Just thought you should know. Alright, enough with this, lets get to the chapter!

**Chapter 7**

At a loss, Daniel just stood there, staring at Jack, his mouth slightly open. Finally, he snapped it shut and cleared his throat. "Well, Jack. I don't know. Isn't it enough to just have one less question, one less thing to worry about?" He was getting a bit frustrated now, he had worked hard to figure out this problem and here Jack was, just blowing it off.

"Sure, Daniel. Now that we don't have to worry about **that** nagging problem, why don't we focus on some more important issues, **like getting out of this damn cell!**" The stress was getting to both of them, and Jack gestured angrily as he advanced toward Daniel.

Before either one of them could do anything they would regret later, strong arms descended upon each of their shoulders, effectively stopping them. Looking over to see what had prevented them from tearing each other to pieces, they saw the calm yet stern face of Teal'c. In all their arguing, they had almost forgotten he was even there. "You are tired," he said. "And are thus unable to think clearly. Perhaps it would be more productive to rest before doing anything further." Teal'c gave each of them a pointed look, which neither could hold for long before they ducked their heads in disgrace.

"You're right, Teal'c. We shouldn't be arguing at a time like this." Daniel paused and rubbed his temples. "And I could sure use some rest." Jack merely mumbled something incoherent before settling down in one corner of the room. Daniel sat down next to the unconscious woman, resting her head back on his lap. Thinking of something, his head whipped up to face Teal'c.

"Do not worry, Daniel Jackson. I will stand watch for any danger." Teal'c paused, seeing the still worried look on Daniel's face. "The woman will be fine, Daniel Jackson. You must rest."

Daniel gave Teal'c a reassured nod before getting more comfortable. Within a few minutes, the only sounds were Daniel and the young woman's slow breaths, and Jack's not so quiet snoring. Teal'c merely shook his head and sat down by the door to the cell, immersing himself in a light state of Kel'no'reem to regain his strength as well.

* * *

Daniel awoke hours later to strong hands grabbing him. Thinking he was being taken somewhere by the Jaffa, he lashed out, struggling the best he could. He was quickly subdued as he heard a voice he recognized.

"Daniel Jackson, you are in no danger. I only wished to wake you because…" But before Teal'c could say more, Daniel felt more hands grasping at him. This time they were small, grabbing and scratching. Opening his eyes, he saw that the young woman was thrashing around in her sleep, muttering and calling out strange words.

"Do you understand what she is saying, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked, now that the reason for him awakening Daniel was apparent.

Frowning, Daniel listened to the woman for a while, noticing she kept repeating the same things over and over again. "Uhmm, well she keeps saying something about not wanting to be like someone else…doesn't make much sense if you ask me." Daniel shook his head.

"What language is she speaking?" Teal'c asked.

"Well it sounds like Greek to me, maybe a little off, I can't quite hear her." As if to oblige him, the young woman started to speak more frantically, almost shouting.

"Den thélo na páo!" She shouted, pushing away from him. Her eyes were wide open but she didn't seem to be seeing anything.

Teal'c gave Daniel a look. He replied, "She said 'I do not want to go'. Go where?" He turned back to the woman. "Go where?" he asked her.

"Ochi to dásos!" she seemed to reply.

"Not the forest…okay. Why don't you want to go to the forest, what's there?" He spoke to the girl as if to a child.

"Do you think it wise to encourage her, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c said apprehensively.

"I don't think she's going to harm us, Teal'c. And this may be our only way of finding out what's going on with her. Did you notice she used—" he was cut off as the girl spoke again.

"To dásos eínai apagorheyméno éos ótoy eínai chrónos." This was said much more calmly than before, almost as a mantra or a saying one was taught to repeat.

"Okay that's cryptic." Daniel said with a frown. Receiving the telltale raised eyebrow from Teal'c, he continued. "Well she said, 'The forest is forbidden until it is time'. Time…time for what?" He directed this last part to the girl.

For a while, the young woman was silent, only occasionally mumbling something about not becoming like another. Just when Daniel and Teal'c thought that perhaps she was falling back into a calmer sleep, she sat up with a jolt.

"Arith!" she screamed, turning to Daniel and looking straight into his eyes. "Parhacaló me boethéote." She pleaded, seeing him and yet looking through him.

Stunned for a moment, Daniel sat there with the girl's hands clenched painfully into the flesh of his arms. "Help you…help you." He muttered, then blinked out of his daze. Gently shaking the girl, he spoke to her. "Hey, its okay. Snap out of it."

Having been woken up when the woman screamed, Jack rubbed his face with his hands and got up. Walking over to the others, he saw Daniel shaking the girl, who seemed to have quite the iron grip on him. "What's going on?" he asked.

The others turned and looked over at him, Daniel with a concerned look on his face, Teal'c with his usual expression, albeit a bit strained. "This…Ninsar is experiencing vivid dreams, and has been calling out in a foreign language." Teal'c informed Jack.

"She's speaking Greek, Jack! That must mean her people influenced the Greek culture on Earth, meaning they may have lived there at some time! Aghh!" He stopped short, gasping as the girl gripped into him again.

"Parhacaló me boethéote." She said again, even more desperately this time. Jack turned his gaze to Daniel, waiting for an interpretation.

"She said this once before. It means 'please help me'. I'm trying to get her to wake up, but nothing seems to be working." He shook his head in frustration and began trying to pry the girl's hands off his arm.

Stepping forward, Jack scooted in next to Daniel. "Let me give it a try." Daniel nodded in encouragement. "Hey, kid. I know you probably are pretty confused right now, but you really need to snap out of it and let go of Daniel's arm." He chuckled. "I sometimes feel the need to dig my nails into him too, but trust me; he isn't as bad once you get to know him."

Daniel gave him a scathing look. He just shrugged and turned back to the girl. "We can't help you if you don't wake up. So, come on. Get your butt back to the land of the conscious." He added a more rigorous shake than Daniel had attempted, hoping for better results.

"Den thélo na páo." The young woman whimpered one more time before shuddering. Her eyes slowly shut.

"Don't worry, you won't have to." Daniel said reassuringly. This seemed to do the trick, she began to straighten and open her eyes. Although her awakening could have started when she closed her eyes after speaking, he couldn't be sure.

"It is too late." She said, looking around at all of them. Returning her gaze to Daniel, she noticed her hands still digging into his arms. She quickly pulled away, eliciting a sharp intake of breath from Daniel. "We are truly sorry. We have injured you yet again."

Daniel shook his head. "No, no, it's all right. It wasn't your fault then and it isn't this time either." He paused in thought. "But what did you mean, it's too late?"

"We were reliving memories. The dream you witnessed was a memory. What was feared has already come to pass." She seemed slightly embarrassed.

"What fear? What happened?" Daniel asked, hoping he wasn't pushing her too much.

"It was a foolish fear." The young woman glanced down at her hands which she flexed open and closed in front of her. "On the planet from whence Union comes, people are not born as you see us now." SG-1 looked shocked. "The humans and amphelos live separately, to a point."

"Uhmm…amphelos?" Jack asked, moving his gaze back and forth between the woman and Daniel. Daniel won.

"Amphelos…uhhh…its Greek. It means…vine?" He turned a questioning gaze to the woman; she gave an imperceptible nod back. "That must be what these plants are called."

"You are correct. The amphelos are sentient plants that have evolved on our planet. When a human reaches the age of understanding, they are sent to the forest to become Union." The others exchanged looks, then Jack spoke up.

"Age of understanding?" He didn't think he qualified, but he just wanted to check.

Daniel intervened. "Uhh, I think what she means is…well, it's obviously some type of coming of age ceremony. Once the individual is old enough to understand what this change in their life means, they are able to accept it."

"Ah!" Jack said. Not so much because he understood, himself, but more so that Daniel would not continue into some long-winded explanation. Daniel seemed oblivious.

"You spoke of Union before; I thought it was what your people were called. Now I'm not so sure." Daniel had turned back to the young woman, focusing his confused gaze upon her.

"It is true, all those who have become Union may call themselves Union. But you are right in thinking this is not a racial name. It is a…" she stopped, a look of contemplation on her face. "A metaphysical name." she finally came up with. "The next step in the evolution of all beings in the universe. One of the final steps on the path to the Great Union."

"Okay, I know I recognize this." Daniel interrupted confidently. "You must be talking about ascension. A-a gradual evolution to a higher plane of existence?"

The young woman tilted her head and furrowed her brow in confusion. "We do not know of this ascension of which you speak. But you seem to know of the basic principles of the Great Union." She began to gesture in a somewhat teacherly way. "All beings came from the same material, and at one time, all beings were one. This is called the Great Union. As time went on, this material began to change, diversify. The Great Union was broken in favor of individuality. This changing continues up to the point when a being becomes sentient of the truth of the Great Union. Then it is one's duty, one's purpose, to begin the path back." She paused for breath, but no one spoke.

"Our siblings, the amphelos, reached this conclusion before the humans. They attempted to show the humans the path back the only way they could. They merged with one. They became the first Union. The other humans were at first shocked and afraid, but soon the first Union was able to convince the others of the truth in this. They pledged to join in the path back to Great Union. From that day forward, every human child of the age of understanding was sent to the forest where the amphelos sprung from to receive Union. Once that is done, they return."

"So, you have a symbiotic relationship? Between the human and amphelos?" Daniel asked curiously. "Well, which one are we speaking to, and what are your names?"

The young woman shook her head. "We are true Union. There is no individual. We were once separate, but now we are indivisible." Seeing the disturbed looks on SG-1's faces, she continued. "But you may call us Neolaía if you wish."

"Neolaía, that makes sense." Daniel nodded to himself.

"Well I'm glad something is making sense to you, Daniel, but I'm still in the dark here. Care to elaborate?" Jack said testily.

Daniel's head perked up. "Oh, sorry Jack. The name means 'youth'."

"What of the name Belenus referred to you? Ninsar." Teal'c stepped in, guiding the conversation back.

"Your interpretation of that name was correct. It was the name your people gave to us when we first came to your world, searching for kin. Only a few returned, and none spoke of these kin who are not. We think we understand now why this was so." Neolaía nodded contentedly to herself.

"I was right! Your people did influence the Greek culture!" Daniel exclaimed, receiving a nod in return. "You must have been the basis to the stories of dryads, beings who could transform into plants, spirits of the forest! But wait, you never answered something…"

"Yeah, what about this Union were you afraid of?" Jack butted in.

"The girl who merged with the sentient plant that makes up our Union was afraid. Afraid of the loss of individuality. Those that come back know only what it is like to be Union. They are not the same as those that leave." Neolaía said plainly.

"So, for all intents and purposes, that girl is dead." Daniel realized.

The young woman nodded back. "As is the plant that merged with her."

* * *

A/N: Okay, an added note. I did finish this earlier, but I ended up getting my modem replaced, so sadly, my internet access was gone for quite a while. Also, a friend of mine ended up inadvertently betaing the first half of this chapter (I like to call it sneak preview, but hey) so here's a thank you to MissNikori, my inadvertent beta. I hope you enjoy the second half of my chapter! And to the rest of you, don't forget to send me a review! Your input truly helps. The few pieces of Greek in this chapter **should** be right, but to anyone who knows Greek, I apologize if it's off. I ended up having to romanize the words I translated from the Greek alphabet, so if some words are not how they are usually romanized, again, I apologize. Until next time!

* * *

A/N 2: Actually its authors note three, but hey, who's counting? Anyway, this is a note to say, these other notes were obviously written at different times in my wonderful internet fiasco, but now that it's finished, and thank you MissNikori again for the wonderful authors note, you can read it to your hearts content. And Ni-chan, good thing you censored that, cause you **know** what I would have done to you if you'd spilled the beans. Anyway, enjoy, and REVIEW!


	9. Chapter 8

A/N: Extreme apologies for the extended wait, but my simple replacement of modem turned into an internet fiasco, involving over a week with no internet. So I'm writing this now in expectation of when the internet will be back, so that I can post both chapters successively to make up for time lost. Thank you all for your patience, and reviews, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Chapter 8**

"What?!" Jack couldn't help but blurt out.

Exchanging confused and shocked looks with the other members of SG-1, Daniel turned back to Neolaía and frowned. "And you're okay with this?" He could barely wrap his mind around it.

"Your confusion is understandable. We never expected you to accept our way, you are not evolved enough. With time, perhaps you will come to understand the truth in what we say." She had begun to sound almost patronizing, allowing the others to indulge in the whims of the young and uneducated.

"So, you said before that this girl," Daniel pointed to her body. "This girl was afraid of this change, this **Union**." He practically spat the word. "She didn't want this to happen, and yet you did it anyway? How is that any better than the goa'uld?" He shook his head, disgusted.

Neolaía returned the gesture, sans disgust, and tried to explain. "We know this is difficult for you to understand, but in the end the girl accepted this Union as the right thing to do. She was afraid, and we will not disguise the fact that the Union itself is a bit unpleasant. But before she was merged she understood and allowed this to happen." Seeing the skeptical looks of the others, she continued. "We would not lie to you."

"How are we to be certain of your truthfulness?" Teal'c spoke, joining the conversation.

"Have we done anything to cause you to distrust us?" Neolaía countered. SG-1 exchanged looks for a while, realizing that she had not.

"Hold on, 'a bit unpleasant'?" Jack snorted. "I bet I know what that means. How 'unpleasant' was it, exactly?"

After a moment, the young woman spoke. "The pain was severe, but fleeting. We assure you, it did not cause undue harm." She spread her arms as if to say, 'I'm here aren't I?'.

"Of **course** it didn't cause undue harm, because that girl is dead. She doesn't remember the pain because **she…is…dead!**" Jack was beginning to lose control. The idea that someone could do that to a child, and feel no guilt was…unbearable.

"Jack." Daniel reached out to rest his hand on the colonel's shoulder, but Jack only brushed it away.

"No, Daniel. I'm not just gonna ignore this." He turned to his friend. "In fact, I can't believe you're not jumping all over her, yourself." He threw up his hands and walked over to the cell door.

"Jack, she's right. We can't possibly understand how being what she is, being Union, is like. Her culture is so unlike ours, the way her people see things is so different, it's impossible to truly see the big picture, here." He tried to get Jack to turn back and look at him, but it didn't work.

"We are grateful for your attempts to understand us. Please, tell us of these 'goa'uld'." The young woman broke the silence, directing her question to Daniel. "We can sense they are like us, having merged with another life-form to bring themselves closer to the Great Union, but they do not acknowledge us as kin. We do not understand."

"But if your people spent time on Earth, before, you must have come in contact with the goa'uld. They ruled our planet for thousands of years." Daniel said in a surprised tone.

"Like we said before, we did send emissaries to the planet you call Earth, and they spent much time there, but only a few returned. They merely said that your world was not yet ready for the next step and would say no more." She pondered for a moment. "Something must have happened to cause them to think they should not speak of these goa'uld. It is not like our people to withhold information from others on the path to the Great Union."

"Perhaps they believed that had they told you of the goa'uld, more of your people would be sent to attempt an alliance, and they did not wish any blood to be shed." Teal'c offered up, receiving a nod from Neolaía.

"In any case, I did have another question for you, Neolaía." Daniel injected.

"When don't you?" Came a mumbled retort from near the cell door. Daniel sent a glare to the back of Jack's head.

"Anyway, what was the name of the girl, and if the amphelos have names, of the plant that merged to create you?" Daniel continued.

This received a furrowed brow as Neolaía stood in thought. Eventually, she shook her head. "We have no memory of this girl's name, and amphelos do not have names, they live collectively." Eyes widening for a moment, she turned her gaze to all of SG-1. "What of our kin? We have not been told their fate, but we fear the worst."

The others were startled by her subject change; Teal'c was the first to recover. "If you are referring to the two men who were with you, we believe we found them in a ditch in the woods surrounding the village and temple."

The young woman slumped, leaning against the wall for support. "It is as we feared." Looking Teal'c in the eye, she said, "Were they separated? Please, tell us they were not separated!"

Confused, Daniel spoke up. "Separated, what do you mean? They were both in the ditch together, side by side, if that's what you were worried about."

"They both had large growths of vines covering their bodies which we discovered to have come out of their skin." Teal'c added to the description.

Neolaía let out a satisfied sigh, and smiled weakly. "They were not separated, that is good. It would have been unbearable to think they had died for nothing."

"What do you mean?" Daniel asked.

"The vines growing out of their bodies were the amphelos that had merged with the human body. This is how they reproduce. When a person who has become Union dies, they are placed out in nature, above ground. The amphelos extend themselves outside the body and grow into a great burial shroud over the body. From this shroud, new amphelos are born. The vines mature and at a future date, become Union with a human. A single Union can bear an average of six new amphelos upon their death." She sighed again. "Our kin have seeded this planet so that one day, these people may also reach the Great Union."

"Not if the goa'uld come out with some nice weed killer, they won't." Jack added, obviously still angry at the woman. Daniel started to say something back. "C'mon, Daniel. These guys sound like parasites to me. Right up the goa'uld's alley."

Through all their talking, the group had failed to hear the Jaffa approaching. Suddenly, there was a group of Jaffa at the cell door, pushing Jack away and opening it. "Coming to let us out, how nice of you." Jack said sarcastically. The Jaffa merely pushed him roughly away.

"You." The leader, Joren, from before said. He pointed at the woman. "My lord demands your presence. Come." When she didn't move, the other Jaffa approached and forcefully grabbed her by the arms and began hauling her out of the room.

"Hey! Give her a break!" Daniel stepped forward, putting his hand on the shoulder of one of the Jaffa holding her. The Jaffa flung his arm up, brushing Daniel's hand off and impacting with his face, making him fall back. Jack and Teal'c rushed over to their fallen friend. "I'm fine, I'm fine!" he gasped, brushing away their ministrations. By the time they had settled down, the Jaffa had already left the room and locked the door. They could hear the sounds of their boots receding back through the complex.

"Well, that was smooth." Jack commented, as he and Teal'c helped Daniel to his feet.

"Jack, I couldn't just let them treat her like that, no matter what my personal feelings are." Daniel brushed invisible particles off his clothes, then gingerly touched his nose, which was bleeding slightly. "I know her lifestyle sounds…strange but we can't just judge her because she's different."

"Oh, no. Never judge. Even if she did sound like a communist traveling minister from hell. Never judge." Jack groused. Daniel only frowned back at him. Teal'c seemed to be pondering over the comment.

They all stood there silently for a few minutes, presumably planning some type of an escape. Just as Jack was settling down against the wall, Daniel decided to speak up, making Jack jump and almost lose his balance. "Did you notice she used the singular personal pronoun in her dreams?"

After regaining his composure, Jack deigned to answer. "Well besides the fact that I have no idea what a singular personal pronoun is, no I didn't notice. Because in case **you** hadn't noticed, she was speaking a different language!"

"I believe the singular personal pronoun is a word replacing a proper noun or name with words such as 'I' 'me' and 'my'." Teal'c supplied, quite out of the blue.

Frowning in surprise, Daniel glanced over at him. "That's right, Teal'c." Turning back to Jack, he continued. "So, anyway, when she was dreaming she spoke that way, but when she's awake, she uses a plural personal pronoun, such as 'we' 'us' or 'our'." He added for clarification. "Doesn't that make you think that there may actually be a part of the host girl remaining?"

"Neolayer did say it was a memory. I'm sure all her memories didn't convert to hive mind when she changed." Jack said.

"Neolaía, Jack." Daniel instinctively responded. "But dreams also reflect the subconscious, and if her original personality was still buried there, it could sometimes express itself in dreams."

"If you're trying to make me like her, it's not working." Jack observed. Daniel opened his mouth to say something, then just let out a heavy sigh. Getting back to business, Jack started talking again. "Okay, we need a plan."

"A plan for what?" Daniel asked, still gingerly rubbing his nose.

"Think, Daniel. A plan to get out of here!" Jack tried to be patient with his obviously spaced-out friend, but it was difficult.

"Will not the SGC send a search party when we fail to report as scheduled?" Teal'c offered.

"Well, yeah." Jack reluctantly agreed. "But that doesn't mean we just sit here on our horribly sore asses waiting for them to show up. We need to take action!" He seemed to be warming up to his own enthusiasm.

Unfortunately, before any of them could get into the enthusiastic escape-planning groove, a group of Jaffa returned to the cell, ordering them all to their feet. It seemed Belenus wasn't finished with them yet. They were reluctantly led out of the cell, through the winding corridors, and back to the familiar throne room. Upon entering, they saw that Neolaía was slumped over before the gilded throne where the goa'uld sat. She didn't look so good.

Belenus looked up as they entered the room. "Ahhh. Now perhaps some progress can be made." He gestured disdainfully at the crumpled figure before him. "She doesn't seem to want to cooperate, but I'm sure that an enterprising group such as yourselves wouldn't hesitate to give me the information I seek."

"I know you're a bit out of the loop here, but us and the goa'uld don't get along. So no thanks, I think I speak for all of us when I say I'll pass." Jack said defiantly. He was grateful that the Jaffa hadn't pushed them to their knees this time.

The goa'uld frowned, a bit disappointed. "Why would you defend such a being as this? You said yourself that you are enemies of the goa'uld, and yet you are friends with Ninsar?" SG-1 gazed back, a bit confused. "Whatever this creature has told you, she lied. She is **just** like the goa'uld. Tell me what she has told you! Tell me where she has come from!" Belenus had begun to lose his temper, leaning forwards in his chair.

The team wasn't sure what to do. Belenus had definitely hit a chord. Was he actually acknowledging that Neolaía and her people were evil, maybe even parasitic? Could she have lied to them? Daniel regained his composure first. "Even if we wanted to tell you where she came from, we couldn't. Because she didn't tell us!" He received a jab in the back from a staff weapon for his outburst.

"Aughh! Fine. If you will not tell me, I will find a way to make you talk!" Getting to his feet, Belenus gestured to his Jaffa. "Gather the villagers, prepare the ceremonial square. We are having a burning." With that, he marched out of the room, his robes swishing behind him.

The Jaffa set to work, some leaving to begin preparations, the remainder pulling Neolaía to her feet and herding her and SG-1 out of the temple. None of them knew **who** was being burned, but either way, it was not good.

Neolaía shook uncontrollably, and as Daniel got a look at her face, he saw that her eyes were wide with fear and shock. He couldn't decide whether to feel sorry for her or happy that she was suffering. Just the fact that there was indecision was enough to make him ashamed.

* * *

A/N: Okay, now I'm back in the groove of things, again, the first authors note was written before my internet came back, so if it sounds odd, that's probably why. Hopefully these two chapters had enough amazing revelations to make up for the time you spent waiting for them. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and look forward to the next! Let me know how you liked it!


	10. Chapter 9

A/N: Okay this has been very difficult to write, much time has been spent staring at an empty page. I knew exactly what was going to happen, but for some reason I couldn't find the words to write it down. But finally I have it. I was actually inspired by writing the last part of it first, which helped me get into the groove of it. But enough of all that writers mumbo-jumbo, I swear its pure magic how the ideas come. On to the Chapter, and thank you so much to all of you that have taken the time to review and read this story (preferably not in that order). Oh, an added warning to any who are a bit squeamish, this is a burning, just to remind you, but I promise it does not get too descriptive.

**Chapter 9**

As the group made their way toward the ceremonial square they had seen earlier on first stepping through the Stargate all that time ago, they took in the sight of all the villagers congregated again around the throne. But instead of an empty clearing in front, this time there was a platform piled with sticks and branches, with a pole rising up from the center.

"I'm surprised, no torches or pitchforks." Jack commented, trying to lighten the mood.

"The villagers are indeed armed, O'Neill." Teal'c corrected, not getting the reference. But on closer inspection, Teal'c was right. The villagers gathered did seem to be armed with spears, swords, even a few daggers. They didn't seem menacing, more like they were standing ready for their god's command. This didn't bode well for any escape attempts.

When they got closer to the square, they noticed a sound behind them. Turning, the three men saw that the Jaffa holding Neolaía were having quite a time of it. Upon catching sight of the stake with timber piled around it, she had redoubled her feeble efforts to break free of the guards. Daniel could tell by the look in her eyes that she was very frightened. No matter how much the guards beat her to make her keep still, she acted as if they didn't exist. She was definitely in shock. Her fight-or-flight reaction was in full bore, allowing her to be much stronger than one would expect for such an injured and mistreated girl.

Daniel just shook his head. "Do you think Belenus was right?" He asked the other two.

Knowing what Daniel was referring to, Jack glanced back at the girl before returning his gaze to his friend. "Honestly, even though the goa'uld are textbook bad guys, and therefore **not** to be trusted…" He paused before continuing. "I wouldn't put it past her, Daniel."

"I thought you'd say that." Daniel replied with a quick nod. "It's just, why couldn't we have met some new race that were good guys; maybe even help us defeat the goa'uld? I really thought her people could be that race."

"Some days just aren't lucky." Jack mused. Teal'c raised an eyebrow to that. "But then again, this is us we're talking about here. We're never lucky. I think Murphy hit the nail on the head with us."

"Who is this Murphy?" Teal'c asked, unsure how Murphy's carpentry had anything to do with them.

Distracted out of his reverie, Daniel looked over at Teal'c with a slightly bemused expression. After a moment, he responded. "It's not actually important who Murphy is; Jack was referring to something called Murphy's Law. To paraphrase, it states that anything that can happen will happen. Even though it applies to both positive and negative outcomes, most people use it to mean that things can and will always get worse." Smirking, he continued. "It's kind of a 'if you can think of something bad happening in a situation, it's going to happen'."

Gazing thoughtfully at Daniel, Teal'c finally opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by O'Neill. "Thanks for the lesson, Daniel. Now Teal'c's completely confused. Nice job." Daniel merely gave him a withering look.

During their little chat, SG-1 and the others had arrived at the square and been ushered through the crowd, which politely parted to let them pass, and stopped before the throne and the stake. It seemed Belenus had somehow gotten there first, despite the fact that he had completely changed his gaudy outfit. Sneering down at them, he raised his arms for silence. The crowd fell into a hush. The sudden silence was disconcerting.

"People!" The goa'uld's voice carried out into the crowd. "Here before you are those that would defy their god! They try to keep secrets from us, hide their knowledge, but they do not realize I AM THEIR GOD! I know what they hide, and shall punish them for thinking they can deceive me!" He stood up, pointing his finger down at the prisoners. The crowd cheered and shook their weapons, eager to see the deceivers punished.

Daniel gulped, "Uh, Jack…you wouldn't happen to have a plan to get us out of here…**before** we're burned to death, do you?" He glanced nervously around at the surrounding crowd.

"As of now? Nope." Jack shook his head, scanning the crowd more tactically. "Any ideas, Teal'c?" He turned to the Jaffa.

"I do not see any safe way of extracting ourselves from this situation." Teal'c responded.

"What about an unsafe way?" Jack countered.

"I think by safe he means we're still alive at the end." Daniel put in, receiving a small nod and smile from Teal'c.

"Oh." was all Jack could think of to say.

"O'Neill, something is happening." Teal'c said urgently, looking behind them. Jack and Daniel turned to look themselves and saw the Jaffa holding Neolaía dragging her toward the stake. Turning back to the throne, they realized Belenus had been giving orders.

If they had thought the young woman had been fighting her captors before, now she was downright rabid, twisting and kicking out, biting and elbowing. The utter terror on her face caused a pang in Daniel's heart. But she lied to us, he had to remind himself. It was no use; he couldn't get past the instinctual urge to protect her. He began to pull against the Jaffa holding him, vaguely noticing that Jack was also struggling with his guard. Teal'c merely stood ramrod straight, a murderous look in his eyes.

As the Jaffa lifted the Ninsar up to set her up on the platform, she lashed out, vines whipping out her arms, back, everywhere. It caught the Jaffa off-guard, and for a moment it seemed she would break free. Then Belenus stepped forward with his ribbon device and caught her in its beam, stopping her where she stood. The vines went slack and, writhing in pain it seemed, receded into her body. Going limp, Neolaía collapsed onto the platform. Belenus withdrew his hand and resumed his position in front of the throne.

The Jaffa drug her up to the stake and chained her arms up with the cuffs hanging down from the top. They then took a long strand of thick chain and wrapped it around her body several times, from her torso down to her legs. Satisfied that she wasn't going anywhere, despite the fact that she was now unconscious, the guards retreated off the platform and took their places in intervals around the clearing.

Belenus cleared his throat, then spoke again. "These strangers came to our world, calling themselves kin. Kin to **Gods**! This blasphemy will not be tolerated. The ones who came with this Ninsar died from their wounds, but she lived to be punished by her **god**! Let this be an example to all that no man is greater than their god." Finishing, he nodded to some of the Jaffa, who readied their staff weapons, pointing them toward the platform.

"What happened to finding out where she came from?" Daniel whispered to Jack.

"Guess old Bellyknots decided the outcome wasn't worth the risk." Jack said back. Daniel opened his mouth to correct Jack about the goa'uld's name, but was given a pointed look in return and decided to keep silent. "At least the girl won't be awake to feel it, that's a comfort." He added.

"I don't know, it just seems wrong." Daniel couldn't help but say, as the Jaffa waited for the signal to light the pyre. "I mean, I know Belenus said she was lying to us, but should we really trust him? He is a goa'uld, after all." He glanced over at Jack, who was staring over at the platform. "Jack?" he asked with concern.

Just then, at an unseen signal, three Jaffa spread out around the pyre shot their staff weapons at the branches and sticks at the base of the platform, causing them to catch flame. The flames rapidly began eating up the tinder, making their way toward the stake and the young woman chained to it. Jack turned a haunted gaze to Daniel, motioning his head toward the blaze. "She's awake, Daniel. She's awake."

Daniel whipped his head around and tried to see through the flames to the face of the girl. Suddenly he found himself looking straight into the emerald green eyes of Neolaía. The fear and pain shown in them wrenched his heart, but what surprised him was the resigned acceptance he saw. She was too young to die. And for a second he thought he saw forgiveness in her eyes, had she been telling the truth?

He didn't get a chance to finish that thought, because just then the Stargate up the hill burst into life, causing everyone to turn and look. Soon after, a group of eight to ten people in familiar SGC uniforms stepped through, weapons at the ready. At the head of the group was a very familiar, and welcome face. Major Samantha Carter. Somehow she managed to spot them within the large crowd in the square, and she immediately began organizing the others into a formation before coming down the hill at a rapid pace.

This sent the villagers into a frenzy and, brandishing their meager weapons, they swarmed toward the comparatively small group of soldiers. With a signal from their god, the Jaffa advanced toward the intruders. Having seen his Jaffa off, Belenus surreptitiously retreated back to the temple.

Taking advantage of the chaos that was ensuing, O'Neill delivered a painful blow to the knee of the Jaffa behind him with the heel of his boot. Releasing his grip, the Jaffa crumpled to the ground. Following his example, Teal'c was able to incapacitate his guard, turning his attention then to Daniel's attempts to break free of his own captor. He had only been partly successful, managing to break out of the Jaffa's grasp, but as yet still battling it out. Picking up a staff weapon from one of the collapsed Jaffa, Teal'c turned and called out to Daniel.

"Daniel Jackson! Stand aside!" As Daniel quickly sidestepped the Jaffa and moved out of the way, Teal'c fired the weapon, felling the guard. Having taken care of the contingent guarding them, the three men came together. Jack and Teal'c had picked up staff weapons, and upon seeing Daniel's unarmed condition, Jack reached into his boot and pulled out a knife.

"You had this the whole time and didn't tell us?" Daniel asked incredulously as he accepted the sturdy knife. Jack just shrugged.

"Let's go help out our rescuers, whaddaya say?" Jack asked patting Teal'c shoulder. Teal'c nodded and they both headed into the fray, blasting a path towards the soldiers with their staff weapons. "Just don't get into too much trouble, Daniel, okay?" Jack called over his shoulder.

Before Daniel could throw back a scathing remark, strong arms landed on his shoulders and spun him around. Standing before him was one of the villagers, thankfully only wielding a knife like him. As the man pulled back his arm for a thrust, Daniel jabbed the survival knife into the man's leg, causing him to double over. Taking advantage of the man's distraction, Daniel ran off, closer toward the center of the square.

Dodging past villagers and soldiers alike, for the soldiers had broken through with the help of O'Neill and Teal'c and were now battling in the square, Daniel caught a glimpse of the platform. In all the frenzy, he had almost forgotten about Neolaía and the burning pyre. The flames were very high now, almost entirely engulfing the stake, but through the smoke and fire he could barely see her figure. Spying her face among the blaze, he was shocked still. It seemed to be frozen in a silent scream, contorted and obviously in great pain. He wasn't sure if the scream was actually silent, or whether the fighting and the fire were drowning out any sound she was making.

Spurred on, Daniel frantically began pushing and shoving friend and foe alike as he attempted to reach the platform. He didn't know what he was going to do when he got there, but he would take one goal at a time. By the time he reached the hotly blazing pyre, the fighting had almost completely died down, the SGC personnel rounding up the last of the villagers who had surrendered. Looking around, he grabbed hold of a bewildered looking villager who had put down his weapon.

"Water! We need water to put out this fire!" Not receiving any response from the man, he shook him vigorously. "Please, get water!" He pointed back to the pyre behind him. Snapping out of his daze, the man nodded and rushed off toward the village, collecting a few others as he went.

Time seemed to crawl along as he waited for the villagers to return with the water. As he stood there, he noticed some of the fires at the base of the platform were dying down, having used up their fuel. By the time the man returned with a bucketful of water, followed by others with the same, much of the fire had already died out. Splashing their water out on the platform, the villagers were quickly able to quench the fire. As soon as the fires were doused, Daniel climbed up onto the remains of the wooden platform and approached the figure still chained to a charred and blackened pole.

Hardly wanting to look, but knowing he had to, Daniel rested his eyes on the figure. Blackened and bleeding, almost unrecognizable as the young woman from before, Neolaía hung from her chains. Thankfully, her face had relaxed into an almost peaceful expression. Fearing he was too late, Daniel attempted to pry the cuffs off her wrists. Having no luck, he turned a desperate gaze back toward the villagers. Almost as if he had read Daniel's mind, the man from before passed up a knife. Daniel nodded in thanks and began again to open the cuffs.

Finally succeeding, he released her wrists from their bonds, causing the girl to slump down the pole. The only thing now holding her up were the chains still wrapped around her body. Making quick work of them, Daniel managed to pull her body away from the pole. The villager, again seeming to be on the same wavelength as Daniel, reached out his hands to take the girl. Reluctantly, Daniel placed her body in the man's arms. After the man rested her on the ground, Daniel climbed down himself to join her. Resting her head in his lap, as he had done what seemed like ages ago in the temple cell, he brushed the remains of her hair away from her face.

Suddenly the body twitched, and Neolaía opened her eyes. Locking her emerald gaze with his she slowly reached out and grasped his arm. Not knowing what she was doing, Daniel let her pull it towards her. She reached out her other hand and began running her finger along the inside of his forearm. Surprised, he tried to get a better look at what she was doing. Finally, she finished and released his arm. Pulling it back to himself, he saw familiar images scrawled on the inside of his arm in blood.

"Tell our kin…what…happened here." She gasped out, barely in a whisper. Slowly her eyes closed and she relaxed in his arms. Looking up to the sky, which was now pricked with stars, the sun having set some time ago, Daniel tried to hold back the tears. No matter how much he tried to convince himself that there was no reason to feel sorry for her loss, that she was as bad as the goa'uld, he couldn't bring himself to think that way. Like she had said before, she had done nothing to cause them to distrust her. So why didn't he, not completely at least?

He was pulled out of his ponderings when he felt a hand grasp his arm, fingers digging into his flesh. Remembering a similar occurrence, he looked down, surprised. Neolaía's eyes were open again, a scared and confused look on her face. Her face spasmed in pain, then the eyes found Daniel's. "Please…help me." She begged, before being wracked with another, stronger spasm. Then she fell back against his lap, her fingers loosening their grip on his arm.

It took him several moments before he realized she had spoken that last in Greek.

* * *

A/N: Whew! That was the most difficult chapter to write I've ever had. I'm glad it's finished. Not because of the subject matter at all, but sort of. I wanted to do it justice, the scene I had in my head, and I'm hoping I succeeded. Please let me know what you thought. And don't worry, I've already finished writing the next chapter, so it should be coming up very, very soon. I would post simultaneously, but then what would be the fun in the cliffhanger? Thank you and please review!


	11. Chapter 10

A/N: Okay, originally I hadn't planned on splitting these two chapters, but on further consideration, I decided that due to the length, and the handy suspenseful ending of the first, that a break would work. So here it is. Hope you enjoy. Another warning though, there is some dark stuff going on in this chapter, but I made it as fleeting as possible. Please read and review, I look forward to your input!

Also, this chapter is dedicated to my brother, Nathaneal. Happy Birthday!

**Chapter 10**

For the longest time he just stared down at Neolaía's now still body. Had he been right? Had the original girl's consciousness remained, hidden deep within Neolaía's subconscious, waiting for the chance to come out? From the confusion and fear on the young woman's face, Daniel presumed that she had no knowledge of what had happened to her, anything that had happened to her, since the day she went into the forest of Union, years ago. To awaken from what must have seemed like death itself, only to die again? It was almost too much to comprehend.

But the real question was this: Had the amphelos that melded with her taken control, or had Neolaía spoken the truth when she said that she was neither girl nor amphelos. That she was a Union of both and neither. He'd probably never know the answer. Looking back down at his arm, he noticed a bit of smudging of the markings made in blood. Taking out his black notebook from one of his pockets, the Jaffa must not have deigned it dangerous (they just didn't know him well enough), he began to copy the symbols from his arm onto the paper. When he finished, he looked around him at the square.

Bodies lay everywhere, but he didn't see any SGC personnel among the fallen. The surrendered villagers had gathered around the man who had helped him, and were conversing in low tones, meekly looking around at the carnage. Further up toward the gate, Daniel saw the SG teams. Carter was talking to Jack and Teal'c. Suddenly they started looking around at the people in the square. Guessing that they must be searching for him, he lifted an arm and waved halfheartedly. Sam noticed and her face lit up as she waved enthusiastically back. The three members of SG-1 started walking over to their fourth.

When they reached him, all three of them stopped talking; they had been joking good-naturedly and reveling in each others company. Jack frowned. "Is that her?" he asked. Daniel could only nod in reply. "Can't say I'm sorry to see her go." Jack commented. Upon seeing the hurt look on Daniel's face, Jack took a step back. "What?"

Daniel shook his head, then slowly slid out from under the rapidly cooling body. Straightening up, he gazed down at the marred figure lying still on the ground. Looking back up, he saw the concerned looks the others were giving him.

"We should head back to the gate." Sam said, in hopes of changing the subject. "There are injured, and the three of you should be checked out." The others nodded noncommittally and started walking back toward the gate with Carter. Daniel began following them, then stopped, looking down at the ground. It took a while for the others to notice he wasn't with them, but when they did, they turned around and gave him a questioning look.

"There's just one more thing I have to do." Daniel said, picking up a sword one of the villagers dropped when he was shot down, and trudging determinately toward the temple. As he walked, he let his mind wander through memories.

* * *

"_Omoroca…"_

"_More…"_

"_The god Belus came down unto Babylon…unto the place of Omoroca……and cut the woman asunder…Oh god! …Oh god, he killed her! I'm sorry, I'm sorry…that's all I ever knew, I swear…"_

"_Belus."_

"_He was a goa'uld."_

"_Yes. He murdered…my love."_

"_I'm sorry…"_

* * *

"But I'm going to make up for it." Daniel said to himself, coming out of his thoughts to see that his feet had brought him to the temple throne room, where Belenus had fled to. The goa'uld was busy collecting up objects from in a chest next to his throne, his back turned to the door. He hadn't heard Daniel come in. "I know who you are, Belus." Daniel said, a disconcerting calm to his voice.

At the sound of the voice, Belenus whipped around, one hand holding a trinket box, the other dangling a ribbon device. "How do you know that name?" He asked in shock.

"We had a mutual acquaintance." Daniel smiled. "Actually, it's more like I knew someone, who knew someone, who knew you. I know, it's confusing." Adjusting his grip on the sword, he began advancing toward the goa'uld. "I had a friend named Nem, you knew his mate."

"I don't know who you are talking about!" The goa'uld backed up, bumping into the throne as he tried to get away from the crazed archaeologist.

"Oh yes you do…" Daniel said, taking the final step that brought him to the base of the throne. "This is for Omoroca." He thrust the sword into Belus' abdomen to the hilt. Once there, he twisted the sword and pushed upwards, causing the goa'uld to gasp.

"Why…" Belus said, then his eyes flashed white before slowly closing.

Extracting the now bloodied sword, Daniel let the body fall to the floor. "Because you murdered her." He whispered vehemently. Then he turned away to leave the temple.

Standing in the doorway to the throne room were Jack, Teal'c and Sam. All three of them stared at Daniel and the dripping sword he held in his hand. Sam looked horrified, Jack had a concerned frown on his face, and Teal'c wore only a knowing expression. Shaking his head, Daniel brushed past them and out of the temple.

* * *

Daniel, Jack and Sam stood silently at the top of the ditch as Teal'c carefully placed Neolaía's body next to the other two with their burial shrouds of amphelos. They hadn't been sure if her badly burned and damaged body would even be able to grow a burial shroud of amphelos, but they had all decided that this is where she would have wanted to be laid to rest.

As Teal'c climbed back out of the ditch, Daniel fiddled with his tiny black notebook. Jack looked over at him and finally asked him the question he had been waiting to ask for a while. "So what happened back there?"

Daniel looked up; glanced quickly at Jack, then back down again to his notebook. "You wouldn't understand." Feeling a hand rest heavily on his own, he followed it up to reveal Teal'c standing next to him, a solemn and respectful expression on his face.

"I do understand, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c had known as soon as he had seen that determined look on Daniel's face as he picked up that sword to go to the temple. Retribution. Remembering back to his own retribution against Cronus for his father's death, he nodded to Daniel. "Omoroca rests at peace now."

Surprised, Daniel realized that Teal'c did understand him. "Thank you." Absently he started flipping the notebook open and shut. The movement caught Carter's attention, and she moved closer to him.

"What's that?" She asked, noticing the scribbles on the page he kept flipping to.

"What?" He looked down to the page she was pointing to. "Oh, it's what Neolaía wrote on my arm before she died. I wrote it in here as a more…permanent copy." He handed the notebook over to Sam. "It's a gate address. The address to her homeworld. She told me to let her people know what happened here."

Nodding in understanding, Sam passed the notebook back to Daniel. Taking one last look at the two viny mounds in the ditch, now with a blackened figure next to them, SG-1 turned and headed back to the Stargate.

**The End**

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A/N: Thank you all so much for reading this and giving your input along the way. I hope you enjoyed how it turned out. I know it leaves a lot of questions left unanswered, and that's why I'm putting this note at the end. My original story idea for the Ninsar was not at all how this turned out, and as the story progressed, and traveled farther and farther away from my original idea, I began to realize that a sequel would have to be made. In this sequel, I will attempt to show you how the idea was meant to be. And no, it's not a remake of the same story, it's a continuation of the storyline. But if you honestly don't want a sequel, let me know. I hope you look forward to it as much as I do, but I can understand if people don't find it sequel-worthy.

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A/N 2: Again, creative license on the numbering of these author's notes, but who cares. I just thought you might want to know that the inspiration that helped me through the writer's block I had been suffering for the final two chapters was a wonderful song called Bodicea by Enya. Set it on loop and write away. It works wonders. It also helped to set the mood for these very emotionally packed scenes. I hope they turned out well.

Tune in for the sequel (tentatively) named Next of Kin!


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